by Jim Provenzano

In a large, airy dance studio with a lofty ceiling, Mark
Brew experiments with a few dancers on ways to stand on, jump off and even
wheel around a wooden table. His new work, Full of Words,
commissioned as part of AXIS Dance Company's home
season, premieres this weekend at Oakland's Malonga Casquelourd Center.

Set with two couples and solitary man, Full of Words
explores how the interpretation of words and
greetings limits and expands personal interaction, particularly between people
who use wheelchairs and those who don't.

"We've got three different sets; straight away that
brings you to your living room," said Brew. "I wanted to see how they
could explore different uses with their chairs, oh, and a bathtub. It's going
to be a challenge."

Challenge is nothing new for AXIS Dance Company, the
premiere physically integrated performance ensemble. Between commissioned and
company work, AXIS has performed about 75-80 pieces that bring disabled and non-disabled
artists together.

"We do a lot of work collaboratively," said
Artistic Director Judith Smith. "My favorite thing is to find a
choreographer and suggest a composer, and they really click."

Previous commissioned choreographers include Bill T. Jones,
Stephen Petronio, Joe Goode, and Victoria Marks. Along with a new work by Brew,
company member Sebastian Grub's Narrowing and
New York-based David Dorfman's Light Shelter
will be performed this week.

Getting Brew, a dancer and choreographer before and after
the car accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down, took years of
planning, but Smith persisted.

"Most don't have both sides of the coin as Mark
does," said Smith. "Others can bring in a whole new palette to paint
with, in a sense. We get really good work from people because they're able to
think differently, and apply it to different ways of moving. Rather than being
a limitation, it opens up a whole world that wouldn't exist. Even though we've
been at this for 25 years, I feel like we're still at the tip of the
iceberg."

AXIS Dance Company's Sonsheree Giles and Rodney Bell in
Joe Goode's "the beauty that was mine, through the middle, without
stopping," choreographed by Joe Goode. (Photo: Trib LaPrade)

Trained as a professional ballet dancer, the Australian-born
Brew, who now lives in London, danced all over the world in several companies,
most recently CandoCo Dance Company, a collective of disabled and non-disabled
performers. Along with his recent appointment as Associate Director of the
Scottish Dance Theatre, he's created new works for dozens of dance companies
around the world. Along with his own company based in London, the choreographer
is in high demand for commissioned works.

While his earlier training and performance in the more
traditional ballet, including the Australian Ballet Company, may have focused
on the abstract, Brew says his own work has become more personable.

"That training and discipline, including abstracting
shapes for ballet, is a part of my work," he said. "But I think about
humanity, who we are as people. That really had to adjust and change according
to my circumstances. Being in dance, accepting who you are, in your new body.
It did make me more interested in how we connect to each other as people. With
all my work, I do try to build this human connection. Just by having two people
onstage, they have a relationship. So I explore that, the connection between
us, the physical conversation."

Asked about gender and implied gay or lesbian themes in his
work, Brew said that he works with it, and around it. The pairings between
different dancers inspire different movement.

"Just having two women together brings about a
different dynamic. I said to them, 'It's not that you're gay,' but it does
bring a different quality to them. Two strong women together has a different
dynamic, and I like that. It's been an interesting exploration for them all. We
interact with the process. When an audience sees people, not just dancers, they
can relate to them more."

The June 30 episode of the Fox show So You Think You Can
Dance brought the company a burst of fame
and a three-minute audience of 13 million viewers. Company members Sonsheree
Giles and Rodney Bell performed a section of an intimate duet choreographed by
Alex Ketley.

Rodney Bell joined AXIS in 2007 after years as a co-founder
of New Zealand's Touch Compass Dance Company, as well as a decade playing
wheelchair basketball. Of the highly edited version of their performance, Bell
said, "You gain something and lose something at the same time. The
interesting layer is the ripple effect and exposure it gave to our company, and
for physically integrated dance."

As cool as the pair seem about their TV appearance, they're
both aware of its impact.

Giles explained. "A friend said, 'You have the
potential to change the landscape of dance.' Using such a mainstream cultural
venue was worth it."

Developing a work for AXIS even has variations between
dancers' wheelchairs, be they motorized or manual.

"It's also specific to the person and what they
need," said Brew. "These days, we've come so far from the generic
hospital chair." Brew's own chair is custom-made to fit his leg length and
his preferences for movement. Along with any dancer's occasional body injuries,
chair malfunctions can occur.

"Oh, yeah. I've had spokes come off, flat tires,"
he said, admitting that he's not mechanically skilled. "But a smart lad
always has a few spare parts in his bag."

Of his globe-trekking artistic career, Brew said the
greatest challenge is access. Although the UK has similar regulations as the
Americans with Disabilities Act, not all facilities have been fully changed.

"Since the 1990s when I was there, there've been
tremendous changes," said Brew. "There are also more people creating
work, and even the older theatres are making reasonable adjustments. We have to
be adaptable. The point is to get the work out there."